


Monsters Are Made of Men [Little Hope]

by wary_deku



Category: The Dark Pictures: Little Hope (Video Game)
Genre: Character Death, Depressing, Eventual Romance, F/M, False Accusations, Friendship, Mental Health Issues, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 11:48:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30038241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wary_deku/pseuds/wary_deku
Summary: Andrew and his college group find themselves trapped within Little Hope, fog preventing them from truly leaving the town of horrors. Read as the story unfolds, souls are lost and relationships are rekindled.--MAJOR SPOILERS FOR LITTLE HOPE--
Relationships: Angela/John (Dark Pictures), Anthony Clarke/Original Female Character(s), Daniel/Taylor (Dark Pictures)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Monsters Are Made of Men [Little Hope]

_The wind blew harsh against the Clarke Family house, the high speeds just beginning their descent into a blanket of quietness. The snow that had sprinkled just hours ago was laying on the once green grass, untouched. The TV turning on and the echo of arguing shattered the silence that surrounded the broken house. Two teenagers and a young girl sat in a spacious living room, bickering amongst themselves as a children’s show played on the box television. A tall shadow clambered around the corner and through the entrance of the room, beer in hand. He was a force to be reckoned with, and not because of his shadow that always snuck up on the resting children. He was an enigma, his reasoning for staying with the dysfunctional family far beyond the understanding of the outside observers. He was harsh and cruel, drinking and passing out after a day at the factory. This pattern repeated every day, the same fights regarding their youngest daughter making Anthony despise his father. He never understood what grudge his family held against the last adopted child, her existence causing everyone to be on edge. The young man knew that she didn’t deserve the treatment she was given, so he tried his best to defend her whenever he could._

_The channel changed, a game show playing in place of the cartoon. Megan had huffed, sitting up and walking away from the TV and into the hallway. On the way out, she accidentally stepped on Dennis’s record, pinching insults being thrown at her retreating form. Anthony scolded Dennis’s rude behavior, tone clipped. “Cut it out man, she didn’t mean to. Give her a break…” Dennis glared at him, grabbing his record and sliding it into his collectors box. From inside the house, Dennis and Anthony could see headlights shining through their window and the sound of a car pulling into a snowy driveway. “Tanya’s finally here. Took her sweet time….” Anthony pursed his lips at the grouchy teen, another defensive set of words being spewed. Dennis and Anthony bickered for a few more minutes before Anthony gave up, shifting off the ground and scurrying into the hall. He looked around, gazing through the side windows of the front door. Two shivering forms stood by the broken door, a gentle fist knocking against the wood. He straightened up, swinging the door open. There they stood for a second before bustling into the warm house gratefully. “You guys gotta fix that damn door!” Jonah sighed, shrugging off her winter coat and grasping her hat between her tanned hand. Tanya nodded from next to her, similarly shrugging her attire off._

_Tanya looked behind Anthony, nodding her head at the slouched form. “What’s with him?” He sighed at the question, looking at Tanya. “He’s been drinking again...him and mom have been at it since he got home.” Anthony resented his parents, knowing everything dysfunctional in the house came down to them. Tanya looked at her younger brother, sympathetic. “They think something is wrong with Megan. She’s done something bad..” Anthony trailed off, Jonah perked up and Tanya opened her mouth slightly, ready to speak but was disrupted. The mother had called down the steps critically, demanding Dennis put away his record collection. Dennis came hobbling past his two siblings, irked by the yelling. “You’d think she was a drill sergeant in her past life.” Stomping up the stairs, Jonah raised an eyebrow at his behavior. “What crawled up his ass and died?” She snickered to herself, the crude analogy making Tanya cringe slightly. By now they were used to the jokes, choosing to ignore Jonah’s bad timing. The siblings both shrugged in response at her poor question, the attention of the conversation moving to a more important subject as the interruption ceased. “I heard. Where is Megan, by the way?” He shrugged, not knowing exactly. “Just leave her alone Tanya, she’s gotten enough trouble from the others.” Tanya’s mouth turned upwards in a sneer, rolling her eyes. “I’m her big sister. I am obligated to check on her.” She looked Anthony hard in the eyes, him closing his in return. “She’s probably upstairs.”_

_Tanya silently slithered up the stairs, leaving Jonah and Anthony alone. Anthony opened his arms wide to the shorter girl once they were left alone, pulling her into a big hug. She squeezed him tight, stealing his breath away as she had always done. She had always been strong, quite literally crushing him in her embrace. It was one of the many things he loved about her, just like the random vulgar comments. Despite her sometimes brash personality, she was one of the sweetest people Anthony knew. Jonah made him feel warm, cheeks turning red from just the thought of her. He was down bad, and he knew it. “How have you been, love?” Jonah moved away, holding her boyfriend’s hands loosely. She looked up at him sweetly, soft brown eyes inquiring his mood. “I’ve been fine...just trying to get through this lifetime.” The side of his mouth quirked up, smiling more wide than before when Jonah narrowed her eyes at him. “Okay nerd.” She smiled back at him abruptly, turning her body slightly, eyes now looking seriously up the stairs. “Hey. Anthony.” He scratched his head, voice unsure. “Yeah Jone?” She looked back at him with a set stare. “I don’t think anything is wrong with Megan, y’know. I think maybe your family just...can’t handle a growing child such as her.”_

_Anthony had furrowed his brows at her, mouth twisting into a frown. “What do you mean?” She sadly averted her eyes to the ground, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. “Megan isn’t a bad kid. Kids don’t just turn out like her...there is always a reason. Something is going on that nobody knows and that little girl upstairs has got to be terrified of whatever it is.” Jonah’s teeth chatter, seeming not as sad anymore, but haunted. “What could it be?” Anthony tilted his head, wondering what else could be troubling his little sister. “I’ve seen her drawings Anthony...they are horrible. I believe that the Reverend might be making her out as bad when she is not. Kids don’t act out like this for fun.” Jonah was obviously worried, face scrunched in thought. “Well..I have to admit, the reverend is off.” Anthony bit his lip, hoping that their worries were only mindless ones. He thumbed the living room, turning his body. “I have to go check on dad, if you want you can-”_

_“Where’s Megan!?” Tanya called down to the lower level, worry creasing her face. “You haven’t found her? She’s gotta be up there somewhere.” Anthony stalked to the first step, tilting his head far back to look up at his concerned sister. “I’ll keep looking but I don’t know where she is..” Tanya muttered to herself, stepping away from the railing. Anthony reluctantly nodded at the idea, turning back to his lover. “As I was saying, you could probably go find Megan with Tanya. She’s worried about her.” Jonah nodded, walking past him and up a few steps. She looked at him from her peripherals, smiling gently and going on her way. She seemed grateful for the dismissal, and that’s what made a smile cross his face in the same fashion. Her confident form disappeared from his vision, and he made his way to the living room occupied by his drunk father. He quietly tiptoed through the room, heart beating fast for reasons unknown to him. He leant down slowly, hand reaching for the remote with almost no sound coming from his mouth. His hand grabbed the remote, pulling it from the arm rest and flicking the TV off. His father’s snores stopped quickly, head lifting in confusion. He looked around for a second, spotting Anthony. He mumbled his words, sounding slurred. “Be quiet, won’t you? This place could use it..” He sounded sad, but uncaring. It pissed Anthony off more than anything, even more than the arguing about his sister. He had to push away his anger, even if it left him bitter. He nodded at the request, being polite for the sake of calmness. “Yeah. No problem.”_

_His father stared at him, wondering Anthony’s thought process. “It’s hard you know. Not even the devil could support this family…” Anthony frowned, deciding to keep quiet as his father reminisced. Why did his father think he had any right? He passed out drunk and then woke up and started complaining! It was silent for a moment, and Anthony almost pondered on the possibility of his father already falling asleep. The stern voice spoke clearly to him this time. “Hey...kid. You gotta watch out for Megan. Your mom’s real worried about her.” The older man expressed to his youngest son, nodding off slowly from the much required sleepiness. “Yeah...will do.” Anthony sighed, finally walking away from his father and out into the hall, heading to the kitchen. He decided that he needed some tea, all that conversation stressing him out. He had pulled out matches from the kitchen drawer, grabbing the tea kettle and lighting the burner swiftly. He gently placed the kettle down on the lit burner and stuffed the matches into his pocket in poor mindlessness._

_In another room, Jonah was sitting on a child’s bed that belonged to little Megan. She listened quietly to the girl, the short summary of what the Reverend was doing behind closed doors had her shaking. Surprisingly, Megan had openly come to Jonah and asked for permission to talk to her about something important. Jonah had thought it would be something innocent, something simple. But she had found out that it was so much more. Jonah’s face was twisted in horror, watching Megan’s small face twist in a similar way. After the topic had been thrown on the table, Jonah had gently hugged Megan, apologizing and promising her she would figure out a way to help the little girl. They both sniffled, and they separated a few minutes after, both needing space to process the turn of events. Jonah had found her way into a storage room paired with a window and a bench, deciding to lay on the rough wood. She didn’t know how much she could emotionally handle the trauma of a child, so she temporarily decided to forget the previous conversation she had. She turned to the other side of the bench, laying scrunched up and passing out soon after. Not long passed before everything in the old house was lit with burning flames, similar to that of the kitchen burner. Jonah was sleeping peacefully for 8 minutes exactly before she woke up to the blazing room. Her lungs had filled with smoke, her sudden coughing hysterical and frantic. She shot up, stumbling and looking for the source of gunk that suffocated her._

_She had vaguely heard the roaring flames as she dreamt quietly, and only now did she truly realize what was happening. She covered her mouth briefly, trying to not inhale the smoke, but she did not have much time before the room she inhabited was completely consumed by flames. Her first instinct was to rush to the window, grabbing a coat rack that stood in the lone corner. She lifted the heavy rack, lugging it over her shoulder with struggle and ramming at the window. The glass shattered sharply, stinging her hands as the rack fell over her shoulder. Her breathing got worse in the span of a few minutes, beginning to hack up blood. She hoped to god she would get out of here alive, and prayed even harder that everyone else got out alive too. On the outside, a few minutes before the fire started, Anthony had heard Tanya calling out for help. When he went to investigate, Tanya had told him that the door to the balcony was locked. Anthony nodded, heading back quickly to the kitchen door. When he arrived, he was shocked to see the stove and ground engulfed in flames. He attempted jiggling the doorknob, calling out for his sister. “Megan!” He banged against the door, almost begging for a miracle to save his family. It couldn’t be over yet. He spotted Megan standing among the flames, eyes wide and also empty, yet again invoking Anthony to call for clarity. She ran out of the infested kitchen despite his wishes, disappearing from his sight. He ran off the porch as hope began to waver, calling up to Tanya desperately. “The kitchen’s on fire! I don’t know what to do!” Tanya gasped, fear radiating off of her expression. “Help me!” She begged her little brother, eyes crying. Megan had also called out at the same time, a fear filled scream erupting from the main hall of the house. He looked back and forth desperately, not sure what to do. He panicked at that point, ordering Tanya to venture into the room through a window. He hoped that maybe she could escape through there and he could reach Megan in time, but his hope died down once he heard a dying scream as a loud burst pounded in his ears. Anthony began crying, running to the living room window desperately. He saw his father, laying on the couch with no idea of the inferno that was about to devour him. Anthony pounded on the window, screaming for his father to wake up._

_The young son’s face stretched and morphed, fear filling him to his very core. Anthony despised his father, but the pain of losing anyone else was more despised than anything. His sad cries progressed until eventually they reached the ears of the sleeping man, the drunken spell that made him pass out fading as he woke up to a burning house. Confusion took over his face, beginning to gather his energy to attempt escape. His father coughed rapidly, dragging himself off the couch and to the window that his youngest son slammed himself against loudly. His attempts were useless though, his stumbling halting as the ceiling collapsed inward, falling onto his sore back and crushing his very being. He choked by the sudden force, blood starting to leak from his open mouth, body becoming weak under the pressure compressing his organs. The flames that surrounded him rose even higher, the fabric covering the man becoming ashes. His old body could not handle much force, heat or smoke before his face froze in a state of pain. Anthony screamed when he realized the turn of events, the man he once knew becoming a corpse within a few minutes, tears continuing their descent down his face. He didn’t know what he could do without running into the inferno, breathing fast, He sniffed, wiping his eyes in disbelief. His eyes ran over the top of the house to where his older brother shimmied along the gutter, Anthony’s stomach dropping as Dennis began slipping, sliding down the roof. It all happened so fast, the chaos, the fear and the pain. Dennis landed on the spikes of the metal fence, his fall immediately draining the life from his eyes. Anthony kept seeing people drop one after another, him soon being the last family member alive._

_Anthony cried harder than he ever had before, anger stirring in him at his weakness. It made the boy overthink the possible cause of the fire. His suspicions lead to his little sister. He scowled at the thought, falling to the ground in exhaustion. He didn’t know if anything was in the beyond, but he hoped that whatever happened here was nothing he could be truly blamed for. Anthony regretted ever lighting that burner, a deep frown setting on his face. He knew that his accusations were unfair, considering he was trying to deflect the blame and guilt off of his conscience. Down in his heart, he knew for sure he was the cause of everything that had happened tonight. He closed his eyes, muttering an apology over and over, begging for forgiveness. Even when he thought the carnage was over, a surprised shriek knocked him out of his stupor, making him jump out of his hunched position. He whipped his head to the source of the nose, noticing that it came from the side of the house. He hurried to the unchecked area, wondering who could have made that noise. He smiled with little hope, coming to a storage room in wonder. He eyed the broken glass that littered the snow and stuck out from the window, peeking into the isolated room. His eyes widened and the color drained from his face, rushing inside the room through the dangerously sharp window. “Jonah! Oh my god Jonah! Please tell me you are alive!” His girlfriend was spread across the ground on her stomach, a large portion of the floor from above preventing her from moving. His heart broke as he noticed the blood that surrounded her weak body and the cuts and rips along her skin and clothing. She looked so out of it, that it terrified him to admit he might not be able to get her out of the ruined house before the flames got to them. He reached for her hands that waved to him for help, her face looking up at him with inappropriately timed adoration. She felt grateful, but knew that the debris crushing her would be impossible to lift. She was crying, very obviously so. Anthony pulled at her as the remaining floor above him creaked and flames licked at the wooden floor that stopped Jonah’s escape. “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean for this to happen! I don’t know how-” His short breaths grew more panicked as the fear of death struck him harder than anything else. Jonah still gazed at him knowingly, struggling to pull her weak limbs from his. With a quick jolt, she was free from his grasp._

_“What are you doing!?” He interrogated her, going to reach for her again. “We have to get out of here!” Jonah frowned at the desperation in her lover’s voice, feeling sad for everything he had witnessed. She figured that he had seen some horrific things before reaching her, so she wished for him to escape seeing her demise. “No, Anthony. I can’t get out of here...you have to get out on your own…” Anthony’s throat closed, sadness gripping him. “No! No! I-I can’t leave you! I love you so much- please, don’t give up!” He begged her, but she already made up her mind. She was rigid and intelligent, and knew that he would be crushed any minute if he didn’t leave the room. He stood by the edge of the window he entered, which made Jonah a little grateful for the coat rack that broke the window. She did not know how she got in the position she was, only that her vision went black after breaking the window. She teared up, apologizing in her head for what she was about to do. “I’m sorry, Anthony.” He shook his head at her, refusing to leave her behind. With a quick shove at Anthony’s legs, he tipped over and fell back out the window, seeing the tears splash against his lover’s arms. “It was never your fault and never will be. I’m sorry. This isn’t your-” He held his breath as she spoke, paralyzed as a loud cracking sound echoed in the cold air of the rising day. The movement was slower in his eyes, but fast in reality. He had gasped as the ceiling fell on the weak girl, the thud and roaring flames being all that were heard. He was disoriented, a scream ripping from his sore throat. He fell face first to the ground and sobbed hard, screaming at the tragedy that took over his life. “THIS ISN’T FAIR! FUUUCK!” Anthony went crazy with repetition, reality setting in. His hair was a mess, and his clothes were destroyed just as his throat from screaming. He was really a sight to behold. The sudden crunch of snow got closer to the crying form, a shocked voice interrogating the shaking boy rapid fire. Anthony tilted his head to gaze at the newcomer, spotting his neighbor standing over him, looking directly next to Anthony. Anthony followed his eyes, gritting his teeth at the matches that laid next to him. He pushed himself up weakly, not wanting to see the terrified glare of his unknowing neighbor. He jogged his way to the front door, calling out for his mom and rushing into the house in false hope that his mother was still somehow alive. His spirit was not reassuring to the worried neighbor that demanded he stop what he was doing._


End file.
